The Blue Bag bearing the Safari Club International logo is a symbol of love and support for the rural villages of Africa and other foreign countries. If you visit Johannesburg, South Africa, you’ll find a bustling city like many in America, but travel to the rural farms and hunting operations and you find Africans living much as they have for centuries, without electricity or running water in their meager homes. This isn’t to say that they are unhappy, but life is difficult in the bush, and many of the things we take for granted as Americans are beyond their reach.
Last week, three couples visited South Africa and Botswana on a hunting safari and took two SafariCare Blue Bags of living essentials and luxuries for native villages, in accordance with the SCI guidelines. This program is sponsored by SCI and recognized by the United Nations as a charitable activity. Persons traveling abroad, especially to Africa, are encouraged to take a list of household and personal items that rural Africans don’t have access to, such as eyeglasses, warm clothing, over-the-counter medicines, and dozens of other items. As a member of the Mason-Dixon Safari Club Chapter, I was happy to organize the project.
A list of contents of the bags is sent to SCI before departure and the list printed and included in the bag to insure that the contents meet immigration regulations. Typically, there’s no import duty for goods carried in this way. Don Wilson and his wife Ann went to yard sales, searching for items on the list, and many other people donated items for the unique cause.
Our first bag was distributed at the safari company of Rassie Erasmus in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The results were amazing. Several of the women literally cried as they received things they had never owned in their lives. One little boy’s face nearly exploded when he received a small stuffed animal, perhaps the only one he had ever held. The women ogled over pretty dresses and high-heeled shoes, and laughed as they donned sunglasses.
Dr. Edward Beachely, a dentist, packed two cases of toothpaste and tooth brushes and we shared them equally among the two bags. The second was distributed at Luke Blackbeard Safaris in Botswana, to nearly two dozen men and women who worked the farm and made up the five-man anti poaching team that Blackbeard employs. Dr. Beachley seemed to bring his entire shirt collection, and the stylish fashions were a huge hit as the men selected from the items until all were gone. Several of the anti-poaching patrol couldn’t be present so a reserve of items was saved for them.
This is truly an amazing project and everyone involved was touched deeply and left with a feeling of warmth and love in their hearts. As Americans, we take so much for granted, and this project infused a bit of thankfulness for our bounty as givers. Even with the smiles and tears of appreciation of the recipients, we received much more than we gave.
For information about the SafariCare Blue Bag Project, contact Karen Crehan at kcrehan@safariclub.org.
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